Removable blade assembly



May 16, 1967 n swANKE E 3,319,938

REMOVABLE BLADE ASSEMBLY Filed 001;. 2l, 1965 INVENTORS ROY L. SWANKE RAYMOND J- ROGENSKI United States Patent 3,319,938 REMOVABLE BLADE ASSEMBLY Roy L. Swanke, Newington, and Raymond J. Rogenski, Torrington, Conn, assignors to Dynamics Corporation of America, New Yorir, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed Oct. 21, 1965, Ser. No. 499,780 7 Claims. (Cl. 259-107) This invention relates to improvements in removable blade assemblies for containers and other devices and is concerned more particularly with a removable blade assembly especially adapted for use with the jars of electric motor driven blenders such as the Waring Blendor.

It is well known that the molded glass jars, commonly used in electric motor driven blenders, are often subject to relatively wide tolerances in specific dimensions. Accordingly, any apparatus which is adapted for such jars and which is removably mounted thereon must be of a type which will compensate for such tolerances and securely fit all of such jars regardless of the variations in dimensions.

The vast majority of upright jars used in motor driven blenders have permanently mounted blades therein at the bottom of the jar. By permanently, we refer to the fact that the blades cannot be removed without the use of special wrenches or tools.

Since the upright jars are relatively deep, the fact that the blade is permanently fixed therein makes the cleaning of the bottom of the jar inconvenient and relatively diflicult in many instances. There have been numerous proposals for providing some means wherein the jar and the base and/or blade assembly may be removed for everyday cleaning purposes. However, such proposals have been rather complicated and often bulky and further, provide two entirely separate elements which must be stored and cleaned separately.

The present invention provides a standard upright blending jar having an opening through the bottom thereof and a blade assembly which protrudes through this opening and is secured to the base of the jar by means of an outer camming device which mates with a depending body member of the blade assembly to lock the blade assembly in place. This camming member is designed so that it may be easily attached and removed manually without the necessity of using any tools whatsoever.

Broadly speaking, the present invention provides a removable blade assembly for an upright container which comprises a body member extending through the bottom of the container, a rotatable shaft supported within the body member and terminating in a coupling means beyond the bottom of the container, a resilient seal between the body member and the inner bottom of the container, and camming means removably secured to the lower end of said body member for biasing said body member downwardly and compressing said resilient seal against the inner bottom of the container.

The objects and function of the invention will be more thoroughly understood from the following description when taken in conjunction with the drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is an elevational sectional view through the re movable blade assembly of the present invention and a fragmentary section of the bottom of the jar;

FIG. 2 is a bottom plan view of the locking mechanism shown in FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the particular lockingcamming device used with the present invention.

Turning now more specifically to the drawings, a jar 11 is partially shown with the normal opening through the bottom thereof. A body member 15 is secured to a shaft 21 and abuts against a shoulder thereof. A circular flange 29 is integral with an annular device 25, which 3,319,938 Patented May 16, 1967 includes a bearing surface 27, and extends thereabout above the opening in the bottom of the jar 11. A resilient ring 30 may be secured within the flange member by means such as a press-fit for purposes which will become apparent as the description proceeds.

The shaft 21 is rotatably mounted within the bearing surface 27 and terminates at the lower end thereof in a coupling designed to fit about the driving section of the blender (not shown).

The upper end of the shaft 21 may be threaded as at 18 so as to receive a nut 17. A blade 13 fits atop the body member separated by a washer 19 with the nut screwed down so as to maintain the blade firmly in place and rotatable with the shaft 21.

It is to be understood that the body member 15 and the annular piece could be formed integrally if desired. The depending bottom of the piece 25 is externally threaded at 31 so as to receive two nuts 33 and 35 thereabout.

Nuts 33 and 35 are adjusted so as to receive a half-ring member 37 therebetween. As may be seen clearly in FIG. 3, the half-ring 37 is supported between the arms 39 and 41 of a U-shaped member 43. The U-shaped member has a depending shoulder 45 at the outer end thereof and the legs of the U-shaped member 43 terminate in camming surfaces 47 and 53. Additionally, a finger-like bearing surface 51 extends upwardly from the U-shaped device 43.

When the device is in use, the entire blade assembly including the body member and the annular device 25 are loosely fitted through the opening in the base of the jar 11 with the resilient sealing member 30 resting on the inner side thereof. The half-ring 37 is rotated so as to be at an angle with the U-shaped member 43 and is slipped between the nuts 33 and 35 as is shown in FIG. 1. Then, by means of finger pressure on the shoulder 45, the U-shaped member is rotated upwardly in the direction as first shown by the dotted lines and ultimately to the position as shown by the solid lines in FIG. 1.

Movement of the U-shaped member upwardly serves two purposes First, the bearing surface rides against the lower nut 35 as shown in the dotted line thus urging the half-ring 37 tightly against the threaded portion 31. At the same time, camrning surface 47 is hearing against the bottom of the glass jar and urging the entire blade assembly downwardly so as to compress the circular seal against the inner bottom of the jar. When the mechanism has reached the point as shown in the solid line of FIG. 1, the blade assembly is firmly locked to the base of the jar and tightly sealed to prevent any leakage therethrough.

It will be noted that the earns 53 are provided on the opposite side of the U-shaped device opposed to the cams 47. Although it is preferable to use the locking mechanism as shown in the drawings, the lower camming surfaces 53 are provided so that should the U-shaped member he accidentally inverted, it will still provide the camming and locking action as required and described hereinabove.

It will now be obvious that it is a relatively simple matter to insert and remove the blade assembly of this invention. Therefore, the average user, such as the housewife, will have no trouble in removing the assembly, cleaning the jar entirely including the bottom thereof, and the blade assembly and then reassembling the entire device.

As stated above, relatively wide tolerances are allowed in manufacture of glass jars and there must be some means to accommodate for this. By camming the surface tightly and adjusting the nuts 33 and 35 upwardly or downwardly, it is possible to get the exact camming action and resultant force desired for each jar. If desired,

We claim: 1. A removable blade assembly for an upright container which comprises a body member extending through the base of said container,

a rotatable shaft mounted within said body member and extending therethrough,

a blade secured to said rotatable shaft at the upper end thereof,

a flange extending from said body member within said container,

sealing means within said flange member,

said body member being externally threaded at the lower end thereof,

first and second nuts retained on said threaded portion with a space therebetween,

a half-ring member rotatably secured between a rigid U-shaped member, said ring being adapted to encircle said threaded portion of said body member, and

camming means on said U-shaped member for bearing against the outer bottom wall of said container and placing said half-ring under tension against said body member whereby to compress said sealing means against the inner bottom wall of said container.

2. A removable blade assembly for an upright container which comprises container for compressing said sealing means against said inner bottom wall of said container. 3. The blade assembly of claim 2 wherein said means for removably securing said U-shaped element comprises a resilient half-ring rotatably supported between the legs of said U-shaped member and adapted to fit about the lower end of said body member.

4. The blade assembly of claim 3 wherein the lower end of said body member is outwardly threaded and further comprising first and second adjusting nuts on said threaded end spaced so as to receive said halfring therebetween.

5. The blade assembly of claim 4 wherein each of the outer ends of said U-shaped member has dual opposed cam surfaces thereon.

6. The blade assembly of claim 4 further comprising a bearing surface between the legs of said U-shaped member for contacting said nuts and urging said halfring into contact with said body member.

7. A removable blade assembly for an upright container which comprises a body member extending through the bottom of said container,

a rotatable shaft supported within said body member and terminating in a coupling means beneath the bottom of said container, a resilient seal between said body member and the inner bottom wall of said container, and a U-shaped element terminating in camming means removably secured to the lower end of said body member for biasing said body member downwardly and compressing said resilient seal against the inner bottom wall of said container.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,750,162 6/1956 Kircher 259l07 3,115,916 12/1963 Stephens 259-107 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,038,727 9/1958 Germany.

WALTER A. SCHEEL, Primary Examiner.

R. W. JENKINS, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A REMOVABLE BLADE ASSEMBLY FOR AN UPRIGHT CONTAINER WHICH COMPRISES A BODY MEMBER EXTENDING THROUGH THE BASE OF SAID CONTAINER, A ROTATABLE SHAFT MOUNTED WITHIN SAID BODY MEMBER AND EXTENDING THERETHROUGH, A BLADE SECURED TO SAID ROTATABLE SHAFT AT THE UPPER END THEREOF, A FLANGE EXTENDING FROM SAID BODY MEMBER WITHIN SAID CONTAINER, SEALING MEANS WITHIN SAID FLANGE MEMBER, SAID BODY MEMBER BEING EXTERNALLY THREADED AT THE LOWER END THEREOF, 